The Vatican has responded to criticism of a stamp it issued and called for its return. The stamp was supposed to advertise this year's World Youth Day in Portugal.
However, it enraged the minds of many Portuguese because of its connection to the country's colonial and dictatorship history. The controversy is particularly explosive because it was only in March that the Vatican formally rejected the "Doctrine of Discovery" The doctrine legitimizes the colonial conquests of Spain and Portugal in Africa and America. The week-long youth meeting was initiated by John Paul II.